Ukraine ramps up shell production, exceeding last year’s output several times – minister

Ukraine has significantly increased shell production, but Kyiv, as before, mainly relies on supplies from partners.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries, stated this at a briefing on the grounds of the NATO Industrial Forum, held in Stockholm, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"As for the capabilities of the domestic defense industry, we are growing significantly," said Kamyshin. "If we talk, for instance, about shells, now we are producing many times more of them than last year. But in any case, this is quite far from how many we need." 

The minister also stressed that no matter how much Ukraine increases local production, it will still rely heavily on Western supplies.

"Because we have the biggest generational war, and the level of ammunition consumption is quite high," the minister emphasized.

Background

Deputy Chair of the Ukrainian Parliament's Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence Yehor Cherniev explained that Ukraine increased the production of shells every month to be able to provide itself with ammunition.

"This ammunition is produced not only by the state but also by private contractors, who partially produce some hulls for mines or something else. But we use all resources as much as possible to increase this projectile program," the parliamentarian explained.

He said that shells produced in Ukraine are three times cheaper than foreign ones.

"The projectile produced in Ukraine is three times cheaper than what we buy in other countries, for example, a 122-mm projectile or a 152-mm projectile. There is, let's say, a markup by some sellers who want to profit from the war… But we are forced to buy at such prices. That's why we want to compensate as much as possible with our production," Cherniev noted.

The 155 mm caliber is the NATO standard. This caliber is commonly used in field guns, howitzers, and howitzers.

Earlier, Rubryka reported that the Ukroboronprom state arms producer is working on the development of the 155-mm artillery projectile, which is the standard of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).

It was reported that on June 28, the activities of the "Ukroboronprom" were suspended. JSC "Ukrainian Defense Industry" was established instead.